No one is going to win that war.

Press reporting indicates that President Biden has access to information about the whereabouts of Hamas leadership that he will not share with Israel unless they renounce their all-out attack on Hamas militants in Rafa.

I have not talked to an Israeli official for over forty years, and I find the "news reporting" in both Israel and here in this country to be little more than thinly disguised, disgustingly partisan, opinion pieces.  During intense conflict, it is always difficult to identify the difference between fact and fiction.  Having said that, I do have a very strong hunch as to what is going on in both countries.  Israel is currently led by a group of people who adamantly believe that they must destroy Hamas as a fighting force.  This country is led by an ignorant, cowardly, vacillating, over-the-hill politician who is trying to get reelected.  I believe that the leadership in both countries is convinced that they can manipulate political opinion in the other country to their advantage.  You and I should read what passes as news in this country with this in mind.

President Biden's position on the conflict is, of course, ludicrous and can change in a heart beat if one or another public opinion poll in this country demands it.  If true, the fact that we are withholding critical information as to the whereabouts of Hamas leadership is appalling, but, unfortunately, also very possible, given this Administration's wrong-headed approach to our relationship with Hamas backer Iran.  On the other hand, Israel's determination to destroy Hamas is either unrealistic or openly vitriolic, depending on your basic orientation vis-a-vis the age old conflict between Muslim and Jew.  Every single Jew and Arab being killed today in Gaza will inevitably be building blocks for the next Arab/Israeli conflict down the road a bit, as all of their children grow up with very powerful hate a fundamental part of their education.

I see Hamas as being evil-incarnate, and I completely understand Israeli anger.  I reluctantly agree with the effort to eliminate Hamas as a security threat and, were I in a position to do so, would provide Israel with everything that they need in the way of munitions to finish that very difficult task.  I would also reiterate my belief that a long term improvement in the security situation will require rapprochement between Jew and Arab.  I see the Abraham Accords and the possibility of improved relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem as being an obvious step in the right direction, but even if some sort of rapprochement between Jew and Sunni Arab can be accomplished, we are still faced with the Sunni-Shia split within the Arab World and a militant Teheran increasingly aligned with China and Russia in a nuclear armed coalition hostile to our interests.

Americans have to get it through our thick heads that the next world war will include the use of nuclear weapons on a large scale and that no one is going to win that war.  Those weapons already exist and are primed for use anytime one or another idiot so decides.  I argue that fact is too important to be left to politicians.  I argue that it requires your and my attention.  The immature children and mindless activists currently acting out on college campuses all over the country indicates that the next generation is not going to be smart enough to play any useful role.  I increasingly believe that you and I are the last best hope for sanity and the fact that you refuse to hear me is even more depressing than listening to Trump and Biden and their supporters trade adolescent taunts.